Top CES Picks Of 2017

The Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest gadget show in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world. Many companies use CES as a way of displaying their latest concepts for new products or a vision for future products. The major themes of 2017 seem to be home automation, Internet of Things (IoT), and virtual/augmented reality. Similar to auto shows, many of the products at CES will probably never make it to market in the near future but it does give us a glimpse into what might be possible. As there’s not enough space to detail every single product, here are the top 5 standouts of CES 2017:

1. Sony Xperia Projector

Sony unveiled a prototype called the Xperia Projector. This aims to turn every surface into an Android tablet. The Sony rep at their booth showed how the Projector could pair with a Bluetooth speaker and control the volume by making circular gestures on the table. Since it is running full Android, you can even access full apps and games. For example, displaying the image on the wall will allow you to watch movies or even do Skype calls. While the visual fidelity isn’t nearly as good as an actual projection system, the very fact you can essentially turn your living room wall or kitchen counter into an Android tablet is very intriguing.

2. LG Floating Bluetooth Speakers

The LG PJ9 is a Bluetooth speaker that literally floats in the air. While that concept isn’t exactly new, LG’s unit promises 360-degree sound. The base station also simultaneously houses a subwoofer and the electromagnets that power the levitation. LG promises around 19 hours of battery life and a neat little party trick. Once the battery charge gets low, the speaker slowly lowers onto the base station and charges itself.

3. Project Valerie

Project Valerie is a prototype by gaming company Razer. Essentially, Razer took their 17” Blade Pro gaming laptop and fit two more 17” 4K screens on either side of the main 17” 4K display. This makes for the a truly immersive experience for gaming, movies, or even everyday office multitasking with Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. While the prototype shown off at CES was essentially fixed, Razer says that eventually the screens will fold out automatically. Obviously, with three 4K displays, nothing less than an NVIDIA GTX 1080 graphics card will be able to power all of those pixels. Unfortunately, two of the Project Valerie prototypes were stolen from their booth. Razer is offering a $25,000 reward for the return of the prototypes.

4. Changhong H2

Most smartphones have a bevy of sensors such as cameras, fingerprint, light, infrared, or even barometric pressure. The H2 by Chinese company Changhong takes it a step further by including a spectrometer into the phone. This spectrometer allows the phone to sense actual materials and can tell the difference between materials. The sensor comes courtesy of a partnership between Changhong and Israeli startup Consumer Physics and their SCiO product. Spectrometers basically work by sending out a pulse of near-infrared light and measuring the wavelength of light that is sent back to the sensor. This allows the sensor to tell the user exactly what material was scanned. For example, Changhong showed a demo at CES that involved telling the difference between a fake and real Viagra pill. It can even be used to tell body fat percentage or nutritional value of food.

5. Toyota Concept-i

Many automotive companies such as Tesla, BMW, Nissan, Honda, and Ford have delved into autonomous driving. However, Toyota is looking to completely change the way we view our cars by introducing the Concept-i. What makes the Concept-I unique is that it looks to combine an advanced artificial intelligence called “Yui” with a futuristic input system that can learn the driver’s habits and automatically predict the needs of the driver. According to Toyota,

“Yui is a liaison between you, your passengers and your car. More pal than interface, Yui, in tandem with AI, anticipates your needs and informs the car so that Concept-i can consider and execute that next action accordingly.”

Yui encompasses more than just simply learning driving habits however. Toyota envisions a future where Yui will be able to sense the emotions of the driver via biometric sensors and actually make recommendations based on the driver’s emotional state. If necessary, Yui would even be able to take control and safely drive the person to their destination. For example, if Yui senses that the driver is intoxicated or sleepy, Yui could then drive the person to a nearby hotel or stop safely on the side of the road. This kind of AI interaction would be unprecedented and would certainly revolutionize human to computer interactions. Time will tell if this concept will ever be fully realized but Toyota seems to think the future of cars is artificial intelligence.